Malignant breast neoplasms are among the most frequent forms of cancer in the Western world.
Conventional treatment of breast cancer may include surgery, hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, radiation and/or
immunotherapy, all of which are often accompanied by severe side effects. Complementary and alternative medicine
(CAM) treatments have been shown to be effective in alleviating those symptoms. Furthermore, with patient survival
rates increasing, oncologists, psychologists and other therapists have to become more sensitive to the needs of cancer
survivors that go beyond than the mere alleviation of symptoms. Many CAM methods are geared to treat the patient
in a holistic manner and thus are also concerned with the patient’s psychological and spiritual needs.
Discussion: The use of certain CAM methods may become problematic when, as frequently occurs, patients use them
indiscriminately and without informing their oncologists. Herbal medicines and dietary supplements, especially, may
interfere with primary cancer treatments or have other detrimental effects. Thus, expertise in this highly specialized field
of integrative medicine should be available to patients so that they can be advised about the benefits and negative
effects of such preparations and practices.
Being a beneficial combination of conventional and CAM care, integrative oncology makes possible the holistic
approach to cancer care. The concept of integrative oncology for breast cancer is jointly practiced by the Department
of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte, academic teaching hospital of the University of Duisburg-
Essen, and the Breast Center at Kliniken Essen-Mitte in Germany. This model is introduced here; its scope is reviewed,
and its possible implications for the practice of integrative medicine are discussed.
Summary: Evidence-based integrative care is crucial to the field of oncology in establishing state-of-the-art care for
breast cancer patients.
Keywords: Integrative oncology, Integrative medicine, Complementary and alternative medicine, Holistic